Flaketail - The great love
by Alicja Adler
Summary: Flaketail s life seems as normal as it can be. But only until that one moment. The moment which changes her life. The moment she sees HIM the first time. But he isn t member of her clan and her father is the leader of OakClan…


I ran. Ran for dear life. I felt the breath of my pursuers in my neck. I didn´t know where my legs tried to lead me. Anyway, where was I? That wasn´t the forest I knew. It was PineClan territory. The trees whizzed past me. I didn´t dare turning my head. I knew without that, too, that they could reach me every moment. I had chosen it myself in the end. I wanted to fight in the battle. Though my father wanted me to stay at home. My father, the leader. I saw his face in front of me, the amber-colored eyes narrowed in worry. I had come with him. It had been a fault, I knew now. My life had been great, normal, as normal as the daughter of a leader´s life could be. Now it was almost at the end. My pursuers didn´t seem exhausted. I ran forth. And had to stop abruptly. A wall of rocks was in my way. Fortunately I had the surprise at my side. The two tomcats ran straight into me. I didn´t see much, morning mist clouded my view. I fought blindly, scratched the flanks of my enemies. I fought for dear life, but I didn't have a chance. One of them, a light speckled tomcat, hit me down. It got black in front of my eyes. It was over. I would die. I was guilty myself. A wild yowl was the last thing I heard before my senses got lost.

I blinked, opened my eyes. And saw a battlefield. Maybe there had been reinforcements. But, what surprised me a lot more, I wasn't dead. I had survived! Next to me lay the speckled PineClan warrior. He had had the cruel destiny, I could get away from. But, where were my clanmates? They had left me alone, maybe thinking, I was being killed. I lifted my head a little. No cats' soul was to see, only the dead bodies. I realized painfully that there were the siblings Marshear and Lilacwind, too, good friends of mine. They had fought with courage, had been very brave, I was sure. Now I was alone, in the middle of the fallen. Forgotten, left. But there! Something moved. It was a maroon PineClan tomcat, breathing flat. I didn't realize he didn't belong to my clan, I crept to him. I wanted to help, where I could, nobody deserved dying. Shaking badly, I fell to the ground next to the tomcat, in a lake of blood, that flooded out of a large injury in his stomach. His eyes were closed, but I could feel his heart beating. My own scratches and bites almost had stopped bleeding, so I got on my legs and stumbled to a bush, covered in cobwebs. _Cobwebs stop the bleeding_, rushed through my head. That was, what I needed. I wired as many of them as possible around my right front paw and crept back to the maroon cat. They were tainted with blood immediately. I lost hope. They wouldn't help. It would need much more of them to stop the flood of red liquid. I would live maybe, my injuries weren't that bad, but I wouldn't save someone's life. I felt pity with this tomcat I didn't know personally. If someone else would have been here, a healer for example, he wouldn't be about to die now. But suddenly he gasped for air. A stone fell off my heart. There was a chance. I noticed the blood was flooding now only in small drops out of the wound. The tomcat blinked and watched me with glittering dark green colored eyes. "Thanks", he whispered. I took a deep breath. He had thanked me, it wasn't important I was from another clan. Others had maybe growled, saying I should go. He did not.

"You are Flaketail, right? The daughter of Desertstar?" His voice wasn't more than a whisper.

„Yes" I meowed in surprise. "From where do you know this? Because, I don't know you, really."

The maroon purred. "The daughter of the OakClan leader has to be known." Perfect response. "I'm Treefire", he introduced himself.

I thought. What should I say now? "The name fits you." _Super, Flaketail, very interesting mentioning._ But Treefire just smiled and sat up.

"Anyway, why are you helping me?" he asked seriously.

„No cat deserves dying. The clans are enemies, but the wounded shall not suffer because of that."

„You are almost speaking like a healer" the tomcat murmured. He observed me, I felt it though I watched the battlefield around us.

I got on my legs slowly. „I think I shall go now. It won't be long until someone comes along." I moved and the next moment I could sense Whitefoot, Falcontail and Howerpaw, a cat who deserved her warrior name already.

„Flaketail! You're alive!" the she-cat called.

I moved through the ferns near the border. I knew it was a fault, but I wanted to see Treefire again. His look, his voice, it wouldn't go out of my head. I couldn't help, I felt like I'd been enchanted. Since the battle I volunteered for patrol at the PineClan border, hoping to meet the maroon tomcat. Now the others thought I was on hunting duty. I opened my mouth a little to sense the smells better.

There! A patrol! My heartbeat went faster when I noticed Treefire at its top. His injury was almost gone.

„You can go on, I would be back soon."

The other two cats, the grey warrior Dovefeather and her apprentice Badgerpaw, went away.

„There we are again" the tomcat meowed friendly after his clanmates weren't close enough to hear us. „Do you seek something particular?" I watched my paws. I couldn't say that I was only there to see him, could I?

It was almost like he could read my thoughts. Treefire pawed at me and whispered: „I'm happy to see you, too." I drowned in his eyes, which were as green as emeralds, only darker. But the moment didn't last very long.

„Treefire! Are you coming?" Dovefeather's voice seemed to come from the far distance.

„I'm there in a moment!" Whispering, he added. „Today evening at the river? How does that seem?"

„I would be there." Lucky feelings swamped over me and I watched after him until he got lost between the trees.

_He_ wanted to meet _me_! Oh yes, I would be there, he could bet on that.


End file.
